Daniel Adrian will decide by Saturday whether he will run for PS leader

Socialist leader Daniel Adrian said on Tuesday he is considering a candidacy for PS general secretary in the next direct elections because he believes the two high-profile candidates are “heirs of cosism” and “have no reform ambitions.”

Daniel Adrian told Lusa that his decision “depends on a number of consultations” but will be announced on Saturday, the day the party’s national commission meets to decide on the internal election calendar.

“I have received great support from people who do not see themselves in any of the candidates known so far,” said Socialist minority line leader José Luis Carneiro and Pedro Nuno Santos.

Adrian believed that there was a “gap” in relation to the two already known candidates, since they were both “candidates for succession”.

“They are both heirs to ‘costism’ and we need to put a stop to it. The future of PS needs to be built with new heroes,” he said.

The Socialist leader, who at the last meeting of the National Commission argued that the PS should present the current governor of the Bank of Portugal, Mario Centeno, as the party’s candidate for prime minister in the next elections, expressed concern about the “reputational damage” that this crisis is brewing in the party and in the Portuguese democratic system.

“Chega’s rise is a reflection of the people’s revolt against the political ‘mainstream,'” he said, questioning the “inherent flaw” of the Portuguese electoral system.

“This is a flawed electoral system. In the European Union, only Portugal and Spain have closed and blocked lists,” he said, defending his preference for systems that allow preferential and/or nominal voting.

The PS National Commission will meet again on Saturday to set the election calendar following António Costa’s resignation as prime minister and decision not to run again.